PortAventura World

[Scott]

It's unbearable on park in the middle of the day during summer. Simply too hot.

Much better to get on park around 4.00pm! Ride queues tended to close between 11.30 and 11.45pm.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Tapatalk

It's bad enough in September believe me, I refuse to ever visit Spain in July or August again after going to Barcelona around that time in 2005, the heat was so unbearable.

I'll be going to PA in September, I am already counting down the weeks tbh.

[The Crab of Nemesis]

So I'm back from my time at PA.

Shambhala is amazing, easily my favourite thing at the park. I've never ridden a hyper coaster before so it was a new experience for me, but the floaty airtime was just fantastic and the speed through that tunnel is immense. Speaking of which, not sure why everyone is dissing the tunnel, it's nicely themed on the outside and doesn't need theming on the inside really - it certainly beats Baco's random 'shed' halfway round the track!

The ride cars are also very good, love the seating configuration, outside is definitely best as you get a much greater sense of speed, but it's great from all seats. The harnesses are possibly the most comfortable I've ever experienced on a ride and give you the option of having them snug and tight or as I like it with a bit of room for extra airtime

The queue line, well yes this is a bit of an issue. I don't mind the cattle pen too much, but it gives the opportunity for queujumping far too easily. The Spanish seem to do nothing but queue jump from my experience and the amount of times it was happening in Shambhala's queue was laughable. The staff did try at times to stop it, but unfortunately just waggling your finger at them does nothing to stop these undesirables...

As for throughput, I was surprised that only one day I was there did we have all three trains running (not sure if there were problems maybe). Certainly opening day could have benefitted from having full capacity with queues topping 2 hours...

The opening was done very well though with red carpets down, ticker tape streaming everywhere and a general atmosphere you just don't seem to get in the UK. Towers drab openings for Th13teen and Sub-Terra paled in comparison.

And finally, the ride area. Come on, so many people including myself were saying that sticking a giant B+M over the top of Khan was a mistake. But it wasn't, Shambles fits in perfectly and the new area around Khan and Shambles ride area is beautiful and really well themed. This has been a massive positive to the whole park in my experience. I made a quick 3D panorama on my phone while I was there if you want to get a feel for it http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=4e8 ... aafdf595c5

So, for the short review, Shambhala is excellent, one of my favourite rides - if you get the chance, get to PA and experience it, you won't be disappointed!

[mike_roller]

Hi,

I'm looking to go to PA in the middle of June and was just wondering what the arrangements are with regards to staying on park when staying at a hotel?

Our flight out of Barcelona isn't until late so there would be plenty of opportunity to stay in the park I imagine but would this be allowed if we were staying at the Hotel Gold River? Could we stay in the park and then return back to the Hotel Gold River for the transfer?

[TomahawkTom]

I'm sure you could, because if you stay in one of there hotels, you get instant access to the park with a card that last as long as your stay. You may then go in and out of the park as many times you want over your stay.

[DeadJack5]

Hi im going and i want to know, what are the restraints like as i read on a youtube video of it that people cant access it due to their not being enough room, im worried as i know im not the thinnest lad in the world and i really wanna go on it, will i be able to get on it?

ive been on:
Alton: nemesis, oblivion, air, th13teen, rita,
Pleasure Beach: avalanche, grand national, the big dipper
thorpe: saw, stealth, colossus, nemesis infernio

I know thats not alot of info but from what ive given, do you think ill be able to go on?

[RustyRider]

This has to be some sort of joke...

The guy yawning bottom right says it all really!! Eurgh there's not even anything nice to look at...just the back of a sweaty head for two hours...

[jackgcse]

Deadjack5, yeah you will be able to ride, The height restiction is 1.4 meters, which is the same height as Nemesis, Oblivion and Air! So you will be fine. Enjoy your visit, Port Aventura will not dissopoint, apart from the queuejumpers!

I remember when I was about 8 and I discussed with my father, that why did port aventura not want to show off there rides from the queueline, rather than disguiess it behined a zig zag queueline...than I grew up and realised, its all about money, money, money! Gone of the days of queue like 'Templo del Fuego'!!!!

[CoasterCrazyChris]

I remember when I was about 8 and I discussed with my father, that why did port aventura not want to show off there rides from the queueline, rather than disguiess it behined a zig zag queueline...than I grew up and realised, its all about money, money, money! Gone of the days of queue like 'Templo del Fuego'!!!!

To be fair, even Dragon Kahn and Stampida have 'zig zag' queues and they were built before Temple Del Fuego.

[Nightfall]

Deadjack5, yeah you will be able to ride, The height restiction is 1.4 meters, which is the same height as Nemesis, Oblivion and Air! So you will be fine. Enjoy your visit, Port Aventura will not dissopoint, apart from the queue jumpers!

I think he's referring to width rather than height.

Unfortunately I can't really answer your question Deadjack5 as Shambhala uses B&M Clamshell restraints which are only found on their hyper coasters. Think of it as a lap bar that actually holds you in place. I'm fairly sure that more people have trouble with Airs restraints than they do with these but that's the best answer I can give you.

[mike_roller]

I like Cattle Pen queue lines. I think they give the impression of a quicker queue because you can always see it moving. It's only John Wardley who has ingrained it in the minds of enthusiasts that queuing 20 miles around the ride is really exciting and as good as the ride itself.

It's still queueing. And it's still crap no matter which angle you're viewing a drop from.

[The Crab of Nemesis]

I like Cattle Pen queue lines. I think they give the impression of a quicker queue because you can always see it moving. It's only John Wardley who has ingrained it in the minds of enthusiasts that queuing 20 miles around the ride is really exciting and as good as the ride itself.

It's still queueing. And it's still crap no matter which angle you're viewing a drop from.

I see your point, but with a cattlepen queue it's so much easier to queuejump than say in Nemesis queueline. And I quite enjoy seeing different angles of a ride, makes the queue feel almost part of the experience (look at how Universal/Disney do it).

But at the same time, having been in that cattlepen, it's not quite as bad as it looks on that photo!

[CoasterCrazyChris]

I have no problem with long queues provided they are always moving and there are interesting things to catch your attention and keep you entertained during that time. This is why I can't stand rides where the queues are batched into the station (because of those damn fasttracks) because the queue can't flow naturally and then you're left waiting in the same spot for god knows how long.

Cattle pens are bad, bad, bad. What could possibly be good about being crammed in a small space like a herd of animals? Especially when all those people around you are undesirables smoking, shouting and swearing. And they have a tendancy to go on forever and ever. Just look at Rita's - I've no doubt it is worse than Shambhala's.

It makes no sense - these parks spends millions and millions on making a great ride but they forget that only makes up around a minute of the entire ride experience, no thought is given to the hour or more you have to spend beforehand queueing for the ride...

This is why the likes of Oblivon, Nemesis, Duel and Hex are a relative success in this department because thought is given to the entire experience rather than just the ride itself.

[AstroDan]

The worst queue at Europa-Park is the queue for Euro-Mir. Cattle Pen. It's hideous.

The Fjord Rafting (rapids) queue is also a cattle pen but it's literally a constant stroll so it's not really that bad.

BTM at Disney is also horrendous - often you feel like you could pass out.

[SpinballEdders]

SWARM's queue is also awful, and the first part of Saw's as well. Dragon's Fury also deserves a mention.

[Pedro]

Worst queue ever goes to Walygator for The Monster! In fact there's no queue at all, and no station too.

But this one looks really bad. It's sad because the coaster looks amazing, I have to plan a trip there!

[Stelios7]

The queue is a mess. My friend's taking a visit at the moment and I can only imagine he's currently in a sweaty queueline. I could cope with Rita's cattlepen being worse, but for a hot country and if that was in England, there would be hundreds of complaints. That is a disgrace to such a promising ride.

Califonia Screamin' was once classed as one of the worst queuelines but that's nothing compared to this. I would seriously complain.

[Coke]

The sad thing is, if PA had designed a better queue, it would be vandalised within months of opening, much like I am sure the few walls will be covered with graffiti by now. PortAventura is a great resort with amazing potential and high yearly profits and attendance, but small things like graffiti and chewing gum are overlooked.

[Charlee]

What so bad about Rita's queue? Am I the only one that doesn't mind it?

And it is a shame about that queue, at least its in he shade.

[Stelios7]

What so bad about Rita's queue? Am I the only one that doesn't mind it?

And it is a shame about that queue, at least its in he shade.

Simply, Rita's is not in the shade and it's crowded, narrow and sweaty. We could go on for hours... always on a non-Alton topic we end back onto Alton.

[AstroDan]

Rita's queue is actually nowhere near as narrow or packed in as the likes of BTM, Shambhala etc. Rita's problem is that it's a fairly mediocre throughput (c1,000) coaster, and coupled with fastrack and disabled guests, it makes the main queue move slowly. So it's not pleasant to wait in.